Seashells
by Direction
Summary: Understanding your soul is the hardest part. "Love me, love me not. I'm crashing into your life." Love, farewells, denials. "Forever be with you, for I shall not perish." Forbidden love? "Why can't I learn from my mistakes.. Your mistakes?" /MikanxNatsume
1. Prologue

First fanfic ever written by me ._. please ignore the amateur writing and try to enjoy it as much as you can(: .

Disclaimer : Gakuen Alice does not belong to me , it belongs to its rightful owners.

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_Prologue:_

"Just hand her over and everything will be okay." A person with a mask said.

"No, never!" Yuka screamed. She was covered with injuries, as weak as ever, tears streaming down her face. She struggled to get up.

The person with the mask was now furious. "HAND HER OVER OR I'LL KILL YOU BOTH." He ran towards Yuka with full power.

Silence…

Yuka rolled and dodged it. She had a smile on her face, it wasn't a happy smile, it was full of pain and sorrow, but the same time, hopeful. "I'm sorry Mikan; please take care of yourself…" She whispered "I love you."

Yuka used her last bit of strength and sealed the masked stranger's alice and he disappeared. Mikan was in shock. She had just saw the fight with her very own eyes, her mother covered in blood, heck, she can even smell it. Yuka slowly turned towards Mikan, shivering. She gave her a smile and collapsed. She had just witnessed her only known family member die before her very own eyes.

Mikan couldn't stop crying. After all, she was nearly 7 and had just saw her Mother die, she cried in sadness, letting it all out. Around 30 minutes after, Mikan was still crying. Narumi appeared.

"Oh, there you are! I've been looking for you for ho-"Narumi stopped to see Mikan crying, beside her dead Mother. Sadness filled his eyes. "I'm sorry…"

Mikan saw Narumi and became in fear again, she had no idea who he was. She tried running away dragging Yuka. "Get away from me and mommy!" She cried.

Narumi saw the pain in her eyes and walked up to her. Mikan backed away, but Narumi reached his hands out. "Mikan, don't worry. I'm a friend of your Mother."

Mikan stared at his, her eyes widened. "PLEASE MISTER! HELP HER." She cried out loud.

Narumi looked at Yuka for a second and placed two fingers on her wrist. "Mikan… I'm… really sorry. I'm afraid she's no longer with us." Narumi turned his head to avoid Mikan's sad gaze.

Mikan's eyes widened more. Tears fought their way down. "Why.. why did they want me?" Mikan asked in sadness.

Narumi looked at Mikan then looked up at the midnight sky. "Mikan, you have very special powers inside of you. It's called an alice. There are many kinds, but I'm not sure what yours is. Of course, whoever was after you knew." Narumi finished. Mikan looked confused. "Okay, Mikan, you have special talents. If you come with me to a school called the 'Alice Academy', we'll help you discover the most of your ability and the maximum power of it. Are you willing to go?"

Mikan looked at Narumi, she didn't believe him at first, but she took a glance at Yuka. She was despite to do anything to protect the ones she loves, but she couldn't. She could just helplessly watch. Mikan was determined to give it a try. "I'll do anything to protect people around me. If there's actually such power within me, and a place to master it, I will surely go." She said, her bangs covering her eyes.

Narumi was shocked at the words she said, who hears a girl that's nearly 7 say those words every day? Narumi erased his thoughts and nodded. "Okay, we'll have a two people funeral for your Mom near the academy tomorrow. Let's have some sleep." Mikan nodded and they camped out right there.

_**To be continued .**_

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**_Please read&review? No critism or flames allowed, but feel free to tell me how I can improve.


	2. Chapter one

Chapter one came out pretty fast if you ask me. c: . Thanks to WitheredWings101 for being my first reviewer ! If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have inspiration for the chapter to come out so fast. (: . To remind you readers again, this is my first fanfic. Try to enjoy it as much as you can and ignore my amateur writing :D .

Disclaimer : Gakuen Alice does not belong to me , it belongs to its rightful owners .

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_Chapter one ._

BRINGBRINGBRING.

"Ugh." Groaned the brunette that obviously didn't want to wake up. She slammed her hand at the alarm clock, hoping it to turn off, but no, it kept ringing. By now, she got very annoyed and decided to wake up and turn it off, properly.

When she was about to turn it off, she saw the time. It was 5 minutes before 9am. "Oh my gosh! It took me a whole 25 minutes trying to slap-turn off that stupid thing!" Mikan panicked then sighed. "Guess I'm skipping breakfast." She hurried to her closet to check what to wear.

Mikan was standing outside the classroom, waiting for Jinno to turn around so she can sneak in. Jinno started writing on the chalkboard. "This is my chance!" Mikan though to herself. She ducked and quietly tiptoed inside. She was halfway to her desk when…

", do you honestly think I didn't notice?" The whole class turned around to look at Mikan. Mikan gave a nervous laugh. "Such a disgrace you are. We have a new student today and you're here, late. Bad examples these days." Jinno glared at Mikan. She just sighed and apologized. "Anyway, Mikan, please sit down, I will call the new student in." Jinno sighed. Mikan quickly walked over to her seat. "Natsume, please come in." Jinno said. In came a raven haired boy with brown crimson eyes. The guys glared the boy in jealousy and the girls just adored him, you can see their eyes turn into heart shapes, literally. "Natsume, please introduce yourself."

"Name's Natsume Hyuuga, there's not much more you need to know." The boy said coolly. Girls just kept "Kyaa-ing" at him, guys wished to be him. Natsume sighed in annoyance.

"Anyone have any questions for Natsume here?" Jinno asked the class. Girls shot up their hands. The guys thought for a second and slowly raised their hands. Jinno pointed to Sumire.

"Are you single?" She asked dreamily.

Natsume rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to answer that obscene question." He stated calmly.

Jinno then pointed to Anna. "What's your alice?" Anna asked with a smile.

"Fire alice, therefore, I belong in the Dangerous Ability Class." Natsume yawned wondering when this little "meet and greet" will end.

Jinno didn't point at anyone, but this guy stood up looking annoyed and asked "When are you going to drop your 'cool' act?"

Natsume had no reaction "It's not an act, it's who I am. If you can't stand it, suck it up." He said, with no emotion on his face. That caused all the girls to faint.

Jinno quickly stopped the argument. "That's enough questions for Natsume. We'll get to know him more later. Natsume, go pick out a seat." Jinno told Natsume.

Natsume looked around. He found a seet, but said "Just to make it clear, if any girls dare to get near me…" Natsume paused and fire appeared on his palms, "I'll burn your hair down." He finished. All the girls gasped and shivered in sadness. Natsume walked to Mikan.

"I want to sit there." He stated coldly.

"Wait, Wh-what? There's already two people here though." Mikan pointed to Hotaru, who was right beside her.

"I don't mind. I can move to an empty seat." Hotaru got up and sat In front of her old seat, an empty seat right beside Ruka.

"Wa-wait Hotaru, you can't leave me here." Mikan begged.

"I'm not leaving you there. Natsume's going to sit with you instead." Hotaru stated out.

"If Mikan wants you to stay there…" Jinno started but was interrupted by Hotaru.

"One word. Picture." Hotaru yawned. This was obviously one of her usual blackmails.

Jinno was quiet and said "Alright. Natsume will sit beside you." Mikan dropped her jaws. "Now, who volunteers to guide Natsume around the school after class time?" Jinno looked around for hands. Girls wanted to raise up their hands really badly, but was scared, so were the guys. Ruka raised up his hand. "Okay, Mikan, you'll do it."

Mikan almost fainted when she heard her name. "M-me?" She stuttered. Jinno nodded. "B-but I didn't vol-volunteer." She said.

"You were late, so it'll be your punishment." Jinno said. Ruka saw how much Mikan didn't want to do it so he was about to tell Jinno that he'll do it but Jinno interrupted and said "Every action bears a consequence." Ruka looked at Mikan, but she shaked her head, so Ruka remained quiet. "Okay then. Let's start again with class."

RINGRINGRING.

The class bell rang signalling that school's over. "Okay then, Sakura, I expect you to show Natsume around the school now." Jinno ordered.

Mikan sighed and got up. "Come on Natsume." Natsume followed behind her."

A hour passed and they only went through half the school. Obviously, it was huge. They stopped when they saw Ruka. "Hey Ruka." Mikan greeted with a smile.

Ruka smile "Hey Sakura. Natsume, long time no see! I didn't know you were transferring here. I thought you and your sister were attending that private school."

Mikan stared blankly, confused "You two know each other?"

Natsume answered "Yeah, Ruka's my childhood friend, best friend actually." He smiled one of the rare smiles he'd never show to the public.

Mikan let out an 'ohh' then said "Wait a minute, if you and Ruka are so close, why didn't you sit beside Ruka?" She questioned suspiciously.

Ruka interrupted and said "I need to go. It was nice seeing you again, Natsume!" He waved and ran.

Natsume ignored Mikan's question "Hn."

"Fine." Mikan said. "Be like that, don't answer me. But wait, there was other seats in class, why didn't you sit there?" Mikan crossed her arms.

"Because it was all beside girls and you were the only girl who doesn't seem like one of those pests that gets head over heels for you before they get to know anything about you." Natsume replied.

"Oh, okay!" Mikan was satisfied. She skipped off further. "Come on Natsume, there's still a lot to show!"

Natsume just looked at her. "How dense can she get, forgetting being questioning me all together." He walked up to where the brunette was.

Was that the real reason why Natsume sat beside her or was that just an excuse? If it was, what's the real reason?

Another hour past and Mikan took Natsume to the cafeteria.

* * *

They sat at the table along with Hotaru, Ruka, Nonoko, Anna, Yuu and Youichi.

"Guys, this is Natsume, new student in our class." Mikan smile and introduced him to everyone. They all greeted him, he just nodded. "Natsume, that's Hotaru, my best friend. She has the Invention Alice and belongs in the Technical Class. She's a three star. That's Ruka, I'm sure you already know each other." Everyone's eyes became wide, Mikan ignore it and continued. " That's Nonoko. She has the Chemistry Alice and belongs in the same class as Hotaru. She's a single star. Over there is Anna. She has the Cooking Alice and belongs in the same class as Nonoko and Hotaru. She's also a single star. Right beside you is Yuu. He's the class representative and has the Illusion Alice. He's a triple star like Hotaru and Ruka and he belongs in the Latent Ability Class. Last but not least, over here," she went and pinched Youichi's cheeks. "That's Youichi, isn't he just the most adorable thing ever? He's with you in the Dangerous Ability Class. He has the Alice of Summoning Bad Spirits. He's a single star." Mikan finally finished.

"Oi, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Natsume stared at Mikan.

"There isn't much to know about me, but sure, I'm Mikan. I have the Nullification Alice, the Stealing and the Insertion Alice." Mikan said, Natsume raised his eyebrow. "Oh, you must've never heard of it. The Stealing Alice can steal other people's Alice(s). The Insertion Alice allows me to insert Alice(s) into someone." Mikan paused to look at Natsume and saw him nod. she continued. "I belong in the Dangerous Ability Class and I'm a 5 star." Natsume was shocked to hear that she was in the Dangerous Ability Class just like him and that she's also one of the rare 5 star people, just like him.

"Natsume, you should introduce yourself." Ruka nudged Natsume.

Natsume sighed and began. "Natsume here, I have the Fire Alice and belong in the Dangerous Ability Class. I'm a 5 star." Everyone's eyes widened.

Mikan patted Natsume and gave a huge smile "Guess we're roommates!"

* * *

They finished eating and Mikan took Natsume to his dorm which happens to be right beside hers. "Natsume, you're not that bad after all. You seem like you're anti-social or something on the outside, but you're not." She smile at him.

Natsume bowed his head to let the bangs cover his blush "Hn." He said.

"Good night, Natsume." Mikan said as she was about to close her door.

"Good night, Polkadots." Natsume said back.

Mikan heard and quickly opened her door and slammed Natsume's door open. He looked at the brunette with an eyebrow raised. "Wh-what did you just call me?" She screamed.

Natsume's confusion quickly turned into a smirk. "Oh so you want me to call you that?"

Mikan turned around to hide her blush and she crossed her arms "O-of course No-not! How did you know an-anyway?"

"I saw when you pinched Youichi's cheeks. Anyway, good night." Natsume close his door, still smirking.

Mikan wanted to say something, but the door was closed, so she just let out a "hmph" and went back to her own dorm.

* * *

Another chapter done ! Just so there's no confusion, I changed it a bit so that Mikan got transfered to the Dangerous Ability Class and became a rare 5 star after the school found out about her Stealing and Insertion Alice. And just so you guys know, both Natsume and Mikan are 15.

Please read&review? No critism or flames allowed, but feel free to tell me how I can improve.


	3. Chapter two

Sorry that this chapter took over weeks , to be honest , i totally lost inspiration for it ._. . There wasn't much reviews either . Oh well , at least it`s out now c: . Enjoy !

Disclaimer : Gakuen Alice does not belong to me , it belongs to its rightful owners.

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Chapter two :

KNOCKKNOCK .

Mikan groaned. This is just like any typical morning. She forced herself to wake up after the second knock and walked to the door. She opened it and it revealed Natsume "What do you want?" She asked, obviously not satisfied with being woken up.

"Unlike you, I'm all up and ready for the day. I'm going to the cafeteria but I can't remember where to go." Natsume stared at the brunette who's in pyjamas. "Go get changed."

"Ugh. Not my fault you're so stupid that you couldn't find your way to the cafeteria." Mikan complained as she walked to the washroom to get changed.

Natsume shouted from behind "I heard they have bacon and eggs for breakfast today." Natsume shouted from behind. Not long later, the brunette ran out of the washroom.

"Oh yay!" She cheered happily and started dragging Natsume to the cafeteria.

"Such a dense girl." Natsume thought, "she even forgot she was mad at me and that she's still tired."

* * *

"Morning everyone!" Mikan chirped happily while dragging Natsume to their usual table.

"Good morning Sakura, Natsume. You're up early today." Nonoko smiled.

"I heard there's bacon for breakfast, so… yeah!" Mikan cheered as Natsume nodded to Nonoko.

"You're right, who told you?" Nonoko asked.

"Oh, uh, Natsume, isn't that right?" Mikan turned to Natsume.

"Yeah, I checked the cafeteria schedule while waiting for Mikan to finish eating so she'll show me to my dorm." Natsume said as he went to grab a plate.

"Wait!" Nonoko called from behind. "How did you know that was Mikan's favourite food?" Nonoko wondered.

Natsume turned back and said "I didn't know the way to the cafeteria, so I was going to ask Mikan to go with me, she needed to change to go change, and I guess that's when I saw all the drawings of bacon, and honestly, they weren't very good."

Mikan heard and just glared at Natsume while Nonoko just giggled. Soon, everyone joined.

"So anyone have any plans this afternoon?" Ruka asked the group.

"No, not really." Everyone replied. "Why?"

"That's perfect! We can all go to Central Town altogether!" Ruka smiled.

Natsume looked at him, confused "Central Town?"

"It's basically a place where you buy stuff." Ruka responded, giving the most fail explanation ever. He saw Natsume's that-is-a-fail look and sighed. "You'll see." He just simply smiled. "You're all going right?" Ruka asked everyone. They nodded. "Okay, so let's meet back in front of the cafeteria after school, alright?" He said as people nodded.

* * *

It was class time; Natsume was just sitting there, legs on the desk, a manga to his face. Any idiot would know he's sleeping. Narumi woke him up at class time.

"New student, even if you're new, it doesn't mean to can sleep whenever you want." Narumi shook the student up and walked to the front of the classroom. When he saw Natsume put down his manga, he gasped "It's you!" He shouted.

Natsume looked at him, his eyeballs nearly popping out his eyes. "I-it's you!"

Everyone looked at them weirdly.

"Narumi sensei, you know each other?" Mikan asked Narumi, curiously.

"Ah, yes, though I'm pretty sure it was like what? 5 years ago?"

Everyone gasped.

"Could you please tell us the story, sensei, can you?" Sumire asked, excited as she bounced up and down in her seat.

"D-don't you da-dare!" Natsume stuttered.

"Ah, well… Let's see… It was a long, long time ago." Natsume began his retell of the flashback.

* * *

FLASHBACK – NARUMI'S P.O.V:

I was just walking from the supermarket back to Alice Academy, carrying some groceries when I saw a little boy kneeling at the tree, something about the boy's actions made me curious. I stopped and looked at him for a while. Then he stopped staring and picked up something from the ground, he started trying to climb the tree afterwards, one hand holding on a branch, the other cupping the item. He looked like he was struggling so I quickly rushed over.

"Little boy, what are you doing? That's dangerous!" I shouted out to him.

He looked at me, sitting on a branch on the tree. "A bird fell out of his nest; I'm bringing it back to its home." He reached his cupped and gently placed the fallen bird. He hesitated and finally said "This won't do." He jumped down. "Mister, please take care of the bird until I come back, it has a broken leg, my home isn't far from here, I'll go get the first aid kit!"

I nodded as I saw the boy run off. I was really surprised. I mean, who sees a boy that's hardly 11 care so much for a bird not to mention aid its legs?

About five minutes later, the boy comes back with a first aid kit. I watched as he started healing the bird's legs.

"Thank you, mister." The boy thanked me and was about to run off.

"Wait, what's your name?" I asked, curiously, knowing that he'll be one of the people I meet for few minutes but will stay long in my memories.

"Natsume." He looked back and told me.

I nodded and we bid our farewells.

END OF FLASHBACK:

* * *

The girls fell in love with him, again. Everyone in the class was surprised, knowing Natsume had a soft side.

"Looks like you got a soft side there." Mikan teased.

"Sh-shut up." Natsume turned around to hide his blush. He lit up a small flame on his palm once again to scare off the girls, but no, it didn't work. The story was just too heart warming and inspiring.

* * *

RINGRINGRING.

"Hurry up Natsume, don't make the rest wait!" Mikan quickly turned beside her and smiled at Natsume, ignoring all the girls' glares.

"Hn." He just said, packing up. The second he stuffed the last item in his bag, Mikan grabbed on his wrist and dashed to the cafeteria.

"Sorry for making you guys wait," Mikan laughed, nervously.

"No problem, we just got here." Anna said.

They all headed towards the bus. Soon enough, they got off, arriving at Central Town.

"Wow! I haven't been here in so long." Mikan breathed in the town air. "Let's head over there first!" She pointed at a shop dragging Youichi along with her. I think you all know what shop it was, the Fluff Puffs shop. Everyone liked it, but it seemed like only Mikan and Youichi fell in love with it. Everyone followed along. "Everyone, it's my treat!" Mikan cheered and Youichi clapped. "8 boxes please!" Mikan smiled.

Sweat drop…

They all sat down at a table and started eating. Youichi and Mikan were speeding their way through each box and everyone just watched, Yuu and Ruka smiled nervously.

"Why don't we check out that shop next?" Hotaru suggested, pointing at the souvenir shop nearby.

Everyone nodded and Mikan packed the remaining Fluff Puffs after Youichi took one more. They all headed for the souvenir shop.

"Ah! This is so cute!" Mikan smiled at a hairpin with a seashell on and said to Anna.

"It is, very. Do you think I should buy this kimono?" Anna wondered out loud. Everyone smiled at her.

"If you like it so much, buy it. It doesn't cost that much." Natsume said to Mikan.

"I would," Mikan whined. "But I spent all my money on Fluff Puffs." Mikan sulked.

"Fatass." Natsume muttered but Mikan heard.

"Watch it." She snapped.

Everyone purchased their stuff and headed out. They were walking to another shop when…

"I'm going to go to the washroom." Natsume stopped and said.

Everyone turned back to look at him "Oh, sure Natsume." Yuu said, "meet us back here."

It was just an excuse. Natsume headed towards the previous souvenir shop and reached for the hairpin. "I'd like to buy this." He handed it to the cashier.

"For your girlfriend, I see." She smiled. Natsume blushed and was about to correct her when she interrupted. "Do you want it nicely wrapped?" Natsume nodded. He took the bag from the cashier's hands and nodded a thanks.

They hairpin in the bag wasn't really big so Natsume stuffed it in his pockets to hide it. He walked in the shop everyone else were in.

"Ah, there you are Natsume." Ruka said "we were just about to move on to another shop."

Natsume nodded.

* * *

Everyone returned to their dorms. When Mikan was about to head in hers, Natsume handed her the small bag.

"Huh, what's this?" Mikan asked curiously.

"A gift, for you, since you were taking care of me all this time." Natsume said, trying to sound emotionless.

Mikan opened it and her eyes widened. "Na-Natsume… thank you!" She smiled and hugged him. Natsume tried hiding the blush that was appearing.

"I-I'm going to go take a shower." Natsume quickly excused himself.

"I guess I'll do the same." Mikan walked in her dorm.

She went to the bathroom and tried opening the water, nothing came out of the tap. She tried again, still no.

Mikan called the nearest caretaker to go check it out. "It seems like there's something wrong. Go eat dinner; I'll have some people check it out for you in the meantime." The caretaker said. Mikan smiled and thanked her.

The brunette knocked on Natsume's door, he opened it, without wearing a shirt. Mikan quickly turned around.

"What?" Natsume answered.

"G-go put on a shirt, idiot!" Mikan yelled.

Natsume smirked. "You like what you see?" He said, teasingly.

"N-no! Of course not!" Mikan blushed.

"No need to be immature." Natsume said as he walked towards the closet to get a shirt. "It's not like you won't see later on." He smirks again.

"Pe-per-perv!" Mikan screamed.

"No need to be so loud, you're acting like a monster." Natsume chuckled.

"Wh-what did you say?" Mikan said under her breath, obviously pissed.

"Oh, nothing. Let's go eat." Natsume said, afraid he'll step on another landmine.

"Oh, okay!" Mikan chirped happily.

"What a dense girl…" Natsume thought, shaking his head.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Mikan chirped cheerfully.

"What took you so long?" Hotaru asked, coldly.

"Uh… What's for dinner?" Mikan laughed nervously, hoping to change the subway.

"Pasta, like usual." Hotaru replied "So are you going to answer my question?"

Mikan continued laughing nervously "Mm, pasta m-my favourite!" And like that, she ran off.

Hotaru's gaze turned to Natsume "So maybe you can answer me."

"Nothing special." Natsume said.

"Oh really?" Hotaru narrowed her eyes.

"Hn." Natsume said and walked to get the food.

By the time everyone finished getting their dinner, Yuu brought up a topic.

"What are you guys planning to do tomorrow? It's a Saturday!"

"Nonoko and I are going to go painting." Anna sighed in happiness.

"Woking on another invention." Hotaru said, not bothering to look up at anyone.

"Blackmailed to help her." Ruka sighed. Everyone laughed.

I'm just going to stay at my dorm watching some TV." Inchou (Yuu, name change due to confusion with Youichi) said. "What about you, Sakura?"

"Oh me? I'm taking Youichi to the Northern Woods to visit !" Mikan smiled. Youichi pulled on Mikan's shirt, she lowered her head and Youichi whispered something in her ear. "Hey Natsume." Mikan turned to Natsume.

"What?" He answered not looking at Mikan.

"You have time tomorrow? Youichi wants you to go to the Northern Woods with us." Mikan said.

"Yeah, whatever. I have nothing else to do anyway." Natsume said. Youichi clapped his hands and gave a small smile.

* * *

When Mikan and Natsume were heading back to the dorm, someone ran up to Mikan and grabbed her shoulders. "There you are, Sakura-san!" She panted. "The fixers said there are a lot of problems with your room, not only is the water not working, so is the electricity and something's stuck in the air venders. It'll take about 5-7 months for it to get fixed because there are around 6 dorms before you that needs fixing so you're placed on the waiting list."

Mikan's eyeballs nearly jumped out of her eye sockets. "WHAT?"

"We suggest you to move to a neighbour's dorm for the time being. She or he must be on this floor because you only have 2 hours to move everything you need to live for 5-7 months to their dorm. After that, we're closing it." The caretaker told her.

"Bu-but I only know Natsume from this floor and h-he's…" Mikan turned to look at Natsume and gulped. "a guy." She whispered.

"Don't worry!" The caretaker smiled. "I'm sure you two will get along… or maybe even fall in love." She chirped, earning a glare from Natsume.

Mikan turned to Natsume with puppy eyes. "Please?"

"No." Natsume replied coldly, avoiding her puppy eyes.

"Come on Natsume! I'll whatever you want for a week!" Mikan begged.

Natsume raised his eyebrows "A week?" He spat "You're staying for 5-7 months, women!"

"Fine, a month. Anything!" Mikan begged, puppy eyes cuter and more innocent than ever.

Natsume sighed. "Fine, whatever. But get used to the routine around there. Ground rules: 1:I can beat your ass in everything. 2: You have to listen to me. 3: Piss me off 3 times, and I'll kick you out. Got it?" He stated.

"Yup! Thanks so much, Natsume!" Mikan was so happy and jumped to give Natsume a hug. He blushed.

Mikan somehow convinced Natsume also to help her pack. Everything of hers were now in his room.

"You can go take a shower; I'll be on the bed reading some manga." Natsume sat on his bed. Mikan nodded and went in the bathroom. After she was done, she realized Natsume wasn't there. "Natsume?" She called out. No reply. She decided to just start unpacking everything into his room.

In the middle of the process, Mikan found an interesting card lying one of Natsume's drawers. It seemed important; Mikan couldn't help but peek inside. It said…

"November 27th,

Happy 13th birthday, Natsume! I can't believe you're finally a teenager! I'm so sorry that daddy and I weren't able to see you and Aoi often due to work, but we promise we'll be there!"

Love,

Mother."

Mikan saw the date, "November 27th…" She thought, and her eyes suddenly widened like she just solved a mystery. "That's this Sunday!"

Mikan stood up and smiled. She placed the card gently back to where it was and started packing again. Natsume went through the door. "Welcome back, Natsume!" She greeted "Where were you?"

Natsume went to sit on the bed, "Ruka's place." He replied.

"I see." Mikan said. "That's the plan," she thought to herself. "This Sunday, I'm going to help him celebrate his first birthday at Alice Academy!"

Natsume interrupted her thoughts "Oi, Polka, you're sleeping on the floor. I'll provide you with an extra sleeping bag that I have."

"I have a name you know." Mikan pouted. "I'm fine with that." She added.

Natsume took out the sleeping bag and placed it in an open space… Away from his bed. "I'm going to listen to some music and sleep." Natsume said as he walked to the bed.

"Aren't you going to turn off the lights? Mikan asked, about to sleep too.

"I sleep better with it on." Natsume simply replied.

"Well… I sleep better with them off." Mikan snapped.

"And your point?" Natsume hissed. Mikan sighed. It was his dorm after all. She misses her dorm.

The whole night was unbearable for the poor brunette. She hated it when the lights were on, stinging her eyes, unable to let her sleep. She also hated the loud music being played on Natsume's iPod. Oh boy, she's going to have to get used to this because it's going to happen 24/7 for at least 5 months.

* * *

Mikan slowly opened her eyes, still half asleep, waking up to the tap water running. "Morning, sleepyhead." Natsume said. "Don't make Youichi wait."

Mikan just rolled over, muttered tiredly "5 more minutes…"

Before you know it, Natsume got a towel, soaked it with freezing water. He kneeled beside the brunette and wiped her face with it. "Wah!" Mikan sulked.

"Get up." Natsume smirked. Mikan narrowed her eyes but had no choice but to wake up.

Mikan groaned and went to change.

* * *

"Hey You-chan!" Mikan ran towards Youichi to give him a hug. Natsume was just following behind with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Mikan, hey Natsume." Youichi quietly said.

They headed into the Northern Forest.

"Kaname-sempai!" Mikan squealed and ran towards Kaname, Youichi and Natsume followed up from behind.

"Long time no see, Sakura-san and You-chan." Kaname greeted. " is in that room." He pointed. "Oh, who's the guy behind you, Mikan?" Kaname asked.

"Oh, he's a new student in my class; I'm living in his dorm for a few months because mine had some problems and need fixing." Mikan answered. "I'll give some introductions." Mikan turned to Natsume. "That's Natsume, he has the Fire Alice and belongs in the Dangerous Ability Class." She turned to Kaname "That's Kaname-sempai. He has the Alice of places souls in animals."

Kaname greeted Natsume but in return got a hn from him. "Did you guys hear about the 'Freedom Compititio'?" Mikan and Natsume both shakes their heads. "Really? Judging by Natsume's uniform, he's a 5 star, like you, Sakura. All 5 stars heard." Mikan rose a brow at Kaname, he sighed. "I don't know much but it's basicly a competition for 5 stars to show off their power. The winner gets to bring a friend and have a 2 day vacation outside of Alice Academy, of course, I don't know much about it." Kaname smiled.

Mikan looked fascinated.

"2 days outside the academy, eh?.." Natsume smirked as he thought to himself.

_**To be continued .**_

* * *

I know what you guys are thinking , "5 months is so long !" Well , there`s a reason to it . And yes , Kaname isn`t sick like he is in the original G.A . Anyway ..

Please read&review? No critism or flames allowed, but feel free to tell me how I can improve.


	4. Chapter three

"You'll bring her to me, at any cost."

"Yes…"

"Oh? Why do I sense hesitance in your voice?"

"…"

"It couldn't be that you've _fallen_ for her?"

"No! That's impossible."

"Good; that's what I wanted to hear."

"Yes…"

"Remember, under any circumstances, don't ever fall for her."

"Why would I fall for someone so stupid like her?"

"It's amazing how one's mind works, huh?"

"…"

"Just remember."

"Remember…?"

"_Falling in love with her will be the last thing you'd ever want to do."_

Natsume blinked his eyes a few times before completely opening them, to find a certain brunette in front of him.

"Good morning, Natsume!" Mikan chirped in delight.

"First time you woke up before me." Natsume yawned and murmured.

"Hmph, don't you remember, Natsume?" Mikan pouted. "Today's the day of the Freedom Competition." She cheered.

"Hn" Natsume mumbled as he got out of bed, but then stopped his tracks. "Say, Polka, why do you want two days out of the academy anyway?" he wandered out loud.

"Oh me?" Mikan pointed at herself, surprised Natsume would ask "I haven't seen my Jii-san in a long time…" her voice gradually got quieter and quieter… "I disappeared without a goodbye, the least I could do is go back to visit the person who's taken care of me from when I was a baby to now." Her voice was just a mere whisper; tears were building up as the guilt crawled up from the past.

Natsume saw that she was about to cry, and he knew he had to quickly say something to prevent that; but he was never good with comforting people… "Oi, Polka. Stop crying," he wiped away the tears from her face with his sleeves. "The tears make you look extra ugly, so stop crying." He wiped more tears, for it just didn't seem to stop. "Hey, you're determined to win this, aren't you? How do you think your Jii-san will feel if you the first time he saw you in 5 years is with a crying face? You think Jii-san will feel happy?" Natsume said, closing his eyes while lying back on the bed.

Mikan turned around to look at Natsume, and she finally understood. Wiping the tears away, she forced on a smile. "Come on, Natsume. Let's go have breakfast."

"Hey Natsume…" Mikan asked, on their way to breakfast.

"Hn." Was all the reply she got.

"What's your reason for wanting to get a two days' vacation outside of the academy?" Mikan poked Natsume, curious.

"Why should I tell you?" Natsume sneered.

"Oh, come on." Mikan pout. "I told you mine."

"I didn't care about yours, you just told me after I carelessly asked." Natsume yawned. "Why little girl? You're suddenly so interested in me, eh?" He held her chin towards him and smirked.

"W-what? No! O-of course n-not!" Mikan stuttered, she turned away from him and blushed like mad. Natsume just had that sinister smirk on his face.

After breakfast, everyone from the Dangerous Ability Class arrived at the competition field.

"Let me explain the rules." Narumi stood in the middle of the field. It was a huge piece of land for dangerous competitions only, surrounded by a barriers and walls. The place was empty and sent the shivers down Mikan's spines.

"You each get 3 stickers, when you take a damage impact, the glow from your sticker will dim. Once all three of your stickers are dimmed, you're out. Last one standing wins. If you ever lose your sticker," Narumi went over the rules, and snickered. "You'll feel the wrath of my alice, and you're disqualified."

Everyone shivered, no one wanted to be a victim of Narumi's alice.

Masks were required to be worn on everyone, to control their alice if they ever go overboard.

"Oi Polka, you think you'll win?" Natsume said to Mikan, not looking at her.

"Maybe, I'll just give it my best shot!" the Brunette beamed.

"Pfft. With me here, you'll never win." Natsume huffed.

"Hmph. You wanna bet?" Mikan pouted, slowly smirking.

"Oh you're on." Natsume turned to Mikan and smirked back.

"What's the punishment for the loser?" Mikan poked Natsume, still full of confidence.

"How about loser has to be the winner's slave for a month?" Natsume's smirk grew, so did Mikan's.

"No backing out, Hyuuga." She toned down her voice so that only Natsume can hear.

"Oh, getting cocky, are we, Polka?" Natsume's voice got more serious as the two continuously sent off death glares to each other.

The others in the dangerous ability class just watched and sweat dropped.

"I never knew there's that evil side of Mikan…" one student murmured to another, as the other student nodded, shuddering at the very sight of the other side of Mikan Sakura.

The competition started, and right now, the people are all hiding in places, waiting to ambush.

"Mm! I'm going to win this, no matter what!" Mikan thought to herself with determination. To be honest, Mikan knew she hardly had a chance against Natsume. The only reason she made the bet is to motivate her to do better and better, give her more of reasons to win this.

"Ojii-san…" Mikan whispered to herself as she started tearing, just then, the bush she was hiding in burst into flames. Good thing she had great reflexes, for she quickly jumped back.

"Don't let your guard down, little girl." Natsume jumped, and threw more fireballs at her.

The other thing is, over the years, Mikan has developed the mimic alice, which allows her to copy any alice for at most, 12 hours if it was used against her and any alice she sees being used for 1 hour. But of course, there are exceptions where she can't mimic the alice for some strange reason.

Mikan swiftly dodged the fireballs and shot it back at him.

"Tch." Natsume mumbled before jumping back. "You cheater, using my own alice against me."

"Aw, poor Hyuuga is upset. It's not cheating, it's my alice." Mikan mocked back, making Natsume pissed.

"Let's see about that." Natsume sneered and jumped away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Mikan yelled out after him, but was interrupted when a huge sense of pain hit her. It was overwhelming, that Mikan collapsed on her knees, gasping for air. Walked in front of her was Natsume.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you. My body contains the ability to use any alice stone inserted inside of me as much as it wants. Basically, my only alice isn't just fire." He stood in front of Mikan, a smirk formed on his face. Mikan flinched in pain as a star on her uniform lost its shine.

Natsume was just about to finish her off, but something stopped him in his tracks. He didn't know why, but something about Mikan in agony made him stop. Even so, in his mind, a voice… "Do it, you know you want to… don't tell me you'd bare to watch her die in front of your very eyes, I thought she was the only thing in the world you love, you care for…" The voice went on and on, until Natsume couldn't bare it anymore. A whole conversation started in his head.

"Shut up, just shut up!"

"Oh? Is that what you really want?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Life would be so much better if you just left us alone!"

"Everything requires a sacrifice. You want to stay by her side, don't you?"

"Yes… but-"

"Then pay the sacrifice needed by fulfilling my orders."

"You need the cure, don't forget that. Unless you want to see her die, the girl must go, no matter what."

"… Yes master…"

"Good, now do whatever you can to win this."

"N-Natsume?" Mikan's voice shivered. She could no longer feel the pain, and it seemed like Natsume blanked out for some reason. But his face looked like he was in pain. Why was that?..

"Natsume!" Mikan screamed as someone appeared behind Natsume and stabbed him with a water blade. The pain snapped Natsume out of his "interesting" conversation and blood flowed.

"Tch." Natsume coughed out while blood was coughed up too. A sticker dimmed and he slowly stood up. The raven haired boy walked away, leaving the confused auburn haired girl flabbergasted, trying to process all that has happened.


End file.
